THIS week’s WATN tracks down a man who endured numerous 12-hour bus rides just to don the black and white and holds the honour of being the first and potentially the only player to have reached 100 games for the club at both AFL and SANFL levels.

Darren Mead is a three-time SANFL premiership player and the inaugural John Cahill Medallist as Club Champion for the AFL side in 1997.

He played 127 SANFL games for the Magpies and 122 for the Power in a career that spanned from 1989 until 2002.

But his time at the club started as a teenager living in Ceduna in the mid to late 80s.

“I came down from Ceduna, which was obviously the club’s recruiting zone back then, so I came and played 17s and 19s,” Mead recalled to poradelaidefc.com.au.

“I would travel down on the Stateliner Bus on the Friday night, get in Saturday morning, play then catch the bus back home and get home Sunday morning.

“It would stop into all the small towns along the way and drop off all the letters as well because it was a mail run as well.

“It was a 12-hour trip so when you think about these days sitting on a plane for an hour and getting a sore back, that’s nothing compared to 12 hours on a bus and trying to get a decent sleep, but that’s just the way it was.”

Essendon drafting

Mead did enough in the underage teams to be drafted by Essendon in 1988 in the same draft that the Bombers drafted Michael Long.

But he only once pulled on a Bombers’ jumper in three years on the list.

“They drafted me in '88 when I had played Teal Cup and got All-Australian but I sat on the list for three years,” Mead remembered.

“In the third year they flew me over to play in a trial game against St Kilda at Moorabbin so I played in that game against Stewy Lowe and blokes like that but Tony Lockett didn’t play because he was injured.

“I found out later that I was being delisted anyway. That was just the way it was back then – you got drafted and there was no pressure to go.”

In Mead’s mind, there would be nothing better than playing in a premiership with Port Adelaide, and after missing out on playing in the 1988, '89, '90 and '92 premierships, he finally got his chance in 1994.

“I also got drafted by Brisbane in 1993 I think it was but I was a Port man all my life and the biggest thing for me was winning premierships,” he said.

“We were in a good era then where we had won '88 and '89 and '90 plus '92. I hadn’t played, I was an emergency in '92, and I wanted to play in a Premiership so if I had gone over I might have missed out on being part of the '94, '95 and '96 premierships.

“They were the best memories of my career and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

Living his AFL dream

In 1996 Mead finally lived out a dream when he was drafted in as the last player on the inaugural Port Adelaide AFL list.

He had enjoyed his success with the Magpies but had long held out hope that if Port Adelaide played in the AFL, that he would represent the club.

“There was always talk that Port had a chance to get into the AFL and Brisbane had put a contract in front of me but I didn’t accept it,” he said.

“I had talks with Geelong and Adelaide and in 1996 Collingwood were pretty keen to get me across but I thought I would take the punt and stay at home to take care of my business and my then girl friend who became my wife would have had to move across.

“I was then lucky enough to be the last person put on the Power list in the first year and the rest is history from there.

Career achievements

As a Port Adelaide AFL player he was there when the club won two pre-season premierships.

He also holds the honour of being the first John Cahill Medallist, as well as the only player to have played 100 games for both the Magpies and Power.

But while he achieved a lot with the club, he would have traded his individual accolades for an AFL premiership.

It never happened for Mead, who retired late in 2002.

“In 2001 we bombed out in the finals and after that we did our player reviews and they were quite honest, they weren’t sure if they were going to go with me for 2002,” he recalled.

“In the end they did and it was an interesting year where I played so many games early, then they decided to rest me before I came back towards the end of the year for a few games before finals.

“I was just out of touch with AFL footy after about 10 in the SANFL and my fitness wasn’t there, I wasn’t up to the speed of AFL footy so my last couple of games were pretty awful.

“I called time myself leading into finals. I walked into Rob Snowden and told him before they delisted me I was going to retire.

“I always wanted to go out on my terms and not have delisted next to my name, I had a lot of pride and it was pretty evident that was going to happen that year.”

When the club did win its first AFL premiership, Mead was there at the MCG in the crowd, and he shared the emotion with his former teammates.

“I went across with a mate of mine and it was one of the most emotional games I’ve been a part of, without playing in it,” he said.

“I was crying afterwards when a couple of guys on the boundary line came across, I was just ecstatic for them to have seen the journey they had gone on and for them to actually get the reward at the end.

“It was just a touching moment to be part of the emotion they had and sometimes you can’t hold back those emotions yourself.

“I felt for the likes of Matt Primus and Josh Francou who didn’t get to be playing on the day so I don’t take it that I was unlucky, it’s just I wasn’t one of those guys there at the right time.”

Staying in footy

After he retired, Mead stayed involved in football, holding various roles as coach, football administrator and committee member at SANFL and amateur football level.

He was assistant coach to Stephen Williams at the Magpies in 2003, then went to South Adelaide for three years to be Football Manager for senior and junior football.

He also coached the GAZA Football Club between 2007 and 2009 before returning to Port Adelaide to win a premiership as coach of the Reserves.

He left midway through the 2011 season, then joined former teammate Francou as an assistant coach at North Adelaide.

All along he has been involved with the SMOSH Football Club at West Lakes where his sons have played, occupying various roles from coaching to football director to being a member of the Grants Committee.

“This is the first year I haven’t coached anywhere or been involved in footy,” Mead said.

“Every year since I retired, so from 2003 to 2017 I have been involved somewhere and coached somewhere so this is the first year I’ve actually been able to watch my sons Jackson, who plays in the under 18s and a few reserves games at the Eagles, and Mitch, who has had a few league games for the Magpies.

“It’s nice to sit down and watch them without being involved and just follow their pathway.

Family ties

Both his sons are now in the Port Adelaide Father-Son Academy with the eldest Mitch, 18, making his SANFL league debut this year for the Magpies against Sturt in the traditional ANZAC Day grand final rematch.

“He’s played four games of league footy, he’s learning a lot he’s the youngest guy in reserves and league sides, he’s got a lot to learn but he’s doing well,” Mead said.

“It was an emotional day for me to see him put the jumper on and play his debut league game against Sturt on Anzac Day.

“I think when he looks back on his career he’ll remember that day and it was quite exciting for the whole family.”

Mead has been a personal trainer for 10 years and has been running his own business Fortitude Strength and Training at West Lakes for nearly nine of them.

He still gets to many Power and Magpies games when he isn’t watching his sons play.

And he has been particularly grateful for the support of his wife Julie, who has endured both his career and the journey his sons are now taking.

“Julie has done a magnificent job, she’s a Port Adelaide supporter in the first place,” Mead said.

“She’s had to go through the emotions of footy through my career before we had kids and now supports the boys on their pathway in the game.

“It’s been a great ride and she takes pride in what they’ve achieved so far.

“Behind every football family there’s someone there who does a lot of things for you and she’s done that from day dot.”

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